Special Report: The Private Space Taxi Race

In the wake of last year's space shuttle retirement, NASA is working with commercial space companies to develop private space taxis to carry cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.

So far, two companies — Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Science Corp. — have won billions in funding to ferry food, supplies and scientific experiments to the space station on unmanned spacecraft. Those companies, as well as Blue Origin, Boeing, and Sierra Nevada Corp., are also working under contracts to develop manned vehicles capable of flying astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost. On Aug. 3, 2012, NASA announced the winners of the newest round of funding to develop private spaceships capable of carrying astronauts to low-Earth orbit: SpaceX, Boeing, and Sierra Nevada.

Here's a look at the major players in the race to build private spaceships for use by NASA and others:

Boeing's Private Space Taxi to Take Flight by 2016
With NASA's space shuttle fleet now permanently grounded, aerospace giant Boeing is aiming to fly astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new private spaceship as early as 2015 or 2016, company officials say.

Boeing's New Spacecraft - Video
Boeing is advancing plans for its new capsule-based spaceship, designed to ferry people to and from the ISS and future private space stations. The capsule design is part of an effort to replace the retiring space shuttle fleet.